The Devil Within Thou
by gonnahaveagreatday
Summary: After saving Mystic Falls yet again, their defeated enemies cast a curse on Stefan. The devil is coming to overtake him, and the gang learns it puts Caroline into severe jeopardy. The MF gang is prevented from helping any further, and a certain original hybrid is called in.
1. He is Cursed

For those of you that are fans of Stefan Salvatore, or like reading about him in general, this fic isn't really for you. This is set after Elena was put in the magical coma, but in this timeline she never went into it. And I sort of envision this happening in black and white, like the movie Young Frankentstein? Dark and on purpose.

* * *

Fleur, voici plus de fic!

* * *

They've saved everyone again. The town was theirs, they were safe. Caroline smiled to herself as she walked on the sidewalk framing the park, hand in hand with Stefan. His head down as well, he was also smiling to himself, but she didn't know if it was for the same reason.

Two cloaks over their backs, the hoods up and covering their faces. Best not get what's in this cauldron all over our faces, eh? The cauldron bubbled and her friend walked over, sprinkling another ingredient into the black pot. The bubbling and spraying ceased.

Caroline looked over at her boyfriend, her smile still on her face, and raised her head.

"You know what I like most about winning?" She asked. Stefan stopped walking and stood before her on the sidewalk, a cyclist nearing hitting them without a word.

"What?" He asked in return.

"The nights after we won aren't spent by the light, researching how to fix what ever happened. It'll be spent doing something a lot more fun." Caroline laughed, grinning at him. Stefan leaned in and kissed her, and then they turned to continue walking.

She bent over the cauldron, careful to make sure nothing would pop out at her, and smiled. This would teach 'em. They haven't won yet.

"S e àm an deamhan dùisg ; agus air an anaman air an deamhan bheir!" She muttered over the hot flames, chanting the words. Her friends began bouncing on the heels of her feet, joining in the chant. They spun around the cauldron, chanting the words over and over. A single spark shot through the middle of the cauldron from the bottom of it, they stopped and turned.

He is coming.

They turned to eachother and began laughing hysterically, gripping eachother, and then exited their confines, discarding the cloaks inside.

Caroline and Stefan went back to Elena's house, gathering round for tacos that Damon had helped make. Matt and Bonnie sat across from them, and Bonnie assured Elena Enzo and Jeremy would be coming.

The women walked along the path, towards the house they'd been brought to once for a possible truce, their dress hems sweeping the concrete, making it clear they weren't from this time. When they were from, they dared not say. He had made sure of that.

As they came upon the house, they looked in the clear walls, left open to the world and the lights blazing through. The men and women within were laughing, surrounding wooden table and eating some kind of food they'd only seen once before in a truck-stop dine-in. But it mattered not. What mattered was the younger blonde man sitting by his blonde woman, was beginning to choke on his food. He pulled at his collar, making one laugh. He drank water and it didn't quell the cough, only made it worse. As he spit his food across the room, the other joined her laugh, and the man's friends crowded around him, his woman clutching him and trying to get him to do something, her lips were moving but they could not hear. Damned magic walls. The man passed out and the women ran away as his brother spun about, seeing them watching.

They were gone by the time Damon had come outside.

* * *

Damon led the mystic falls gang to Stefan, lying on the couch in their house, unconscious. Caroline circled him and took his brother's hand.

"Did we figure out what's wrong with him?" Caroline asked, her eyes going to everyone. Elena looked back at her best friend and shook her head.

"Bonnie's researching the magic she knows, but there's nothing." Caroline looked back at her boyfriend. "She thinks she might have to ask for help from an outside source."

"Bon-bon knows other witches?" Damon asked. Elena gave him a look and took his arm with both hands to comfort him. She put her head on his shoulder and Damon took her comfort.

Caroline continued to stare at Stefan and searched her memory.

"There was the time when Tyler was planning to encase Klaus in concrete…"

"And drop him in the deepest ocean," Damon finished with a serious face, now thinking what Caroline was. "I thought about that. What if...?"

"The witches we stopped, you think they could've put that monster into Stefan?" Elena asked worriedly.

"I've seen very little witches can't do. Whatever that thing was, no doubt they found a way to save it." Damon replied. Elena's phone rang and the gang listened in to Bonnie's information.

"My cousin that Katherine used a couple years ago, she had another grimoire she consulted and found out what that creature was we defeated. You're not gonna believe this," The witch began

"We're all blood-sucking vampires and half of the people in this room are older than the average human could ever be, I think we're well past that." Damon replied

"Okay, well brace yourself." Bonnie instructed. Damon gripped the back of the couch with Elena's arms still around him. "Stefan's been possessed by the devil."


	2. Oop, He Dead

"There's an actual….devil. Supernatural devil, and we defeated its cronies." Damon spoke out loud to himself, pacing while processing the information.

"My cousin said when the possession happens, it's irreversible." Bonnie added

"What about those hunters? Katherine's daughter found a way to keep her alive in Elena for those few weeks." Caroline protested

"Yeah, but the devil is this fixed creature. Like the anchor to the other side, except no one can become him. He dies but he is born again somewhere else. He doesn't have control over it, his victims never find out until it's too late, and his followers are good at staying under the radar." Bonnie said. Caroline stayed silent and kept hold of Stefan's hand, stubbornly unbelieving.

"I'm sorry Caroline. We could find a way to get him out of Stefan, but there's no guarantee that it'll work, or that Stefan would survive the possession."

"We're just gonna have to try, aren't we?" Damon demanded. He turned to Caroline. "Have you gotten in his head at all?" She shook her head.

"He seems completely shut down. Except you're way better at doing that than me." Caroline replied. Damon gulped nervously and shuffled towards his little brother. Elena came to Caroline's side and held onto her while Damon hesitantly laid a hand on Stefan's and closed his eyes.

* * *

"Hello, brother." Stefan's voice echoed.

"Oh, boy." Damon replied in caution. "That sounds like humanity-less Stefan."

"Nope, I'm fine."

"Then where the hell are you?" Damon demanded.

The darkness surrounding the brothers cleared, revealing a tiny sun-soaked apartment. Damon blinked and took in his scenery.

"Again I ask, where the hell are we?" Damon asked in annoyance.

"One of the places my possessor used to live a few decades ago. He ended up getting hit by a train and been in limbo all this time. But thanks to you, he's got me now."

"Stefan, he's destroying you," Damon replied, putting his hands on his brother's shoulders "if you don't fight him, he's going to wipe your ass from existence. And I don't know a way to track you down." Stefan's face went from happy to regretful, looking away. Then he looked back at Damon with peace.

"It's time, Damon." Stefan said. Damon dropped his hands in shock

"What the hell do you mean, it's time. We just won against another bad guy, you've got a girlfriend..."

"That's what I mean. There's nothing else to fight. We're safe."

"You're not, Stefan!" Damon demanded "Wake your ass up before I make you."

"Damon, it's okay!" Stefan yelled in reply. Damon panted and Stefan put his hands on Damon's shoulders. "I don't feel any pain. I feel at peace, for once. That hasn't been the case for a hundred years, brother. I want to keep this feeling, and if I wake up, I don't know how to find it again."

"We could always sign you up with a therapist." Damon said. Stefan breathed a laugh.

"You have Elena. You're happy. Caroline's better off without me. I didn't expect to die this soon, but the time's come." Stefan replied. Damon stared at him.

"You really aren't gonna fight." Damon breathed in shock. "I need you, brother."

Stefan smiled. "No you don't. Not anymore. I was always the one that needed you more." Stefan turned away and walked off towards the rest of the apartment.

"Do me a favor, Damon" Stefan said, turning back. "It's the only thing I'm gonna let you do anyway." Damon stared at his little brother. "You're happy with Elena, and you're making her happy. Promise me you're going to have an amazing life with her."

Damon backed up, blinked, and in a second he was back in his house. Stefan's eyes were peacefully shut, his skin beginning to turn a light gray.

"What did he say?" Caroline asked as Damon stood up. He met Elena's eyes with Caroline.

"He's not going to fight this. He's prepared to die." Damon mumbled. The blonde vampire's face full of hope crumpled in seconds.

"What? No he's not just giving up that easily!?" Caroline protested. She stomped over to Stefan. "I'm getting in his head and knocking some sense into him."

"You said you weren't able to get in his head." Damon stated numbly. Caroline landed on her knees by Stefan's side. Elena walked to Damon and stared at him. Damon turned around to look at his brother, and Elena put her arms around his neck.

"I'm going to try, dammit" Caroline cried, then grabbed his hand and squeezed her eyes shut.

Caroline tried for hours to enter Stefan's mind. Elena and Damon stayed hovering on the seats not far from her, looking at each other from time to time, texting Bonnie any updates which were rare.

Elena nearly dozed off on Damon's shoulder, until she heard Caroline's startled cry.

"Look!" She demanded, practically tugging the two over. Stefan had begun to turn grey, the vampiric veins spreading visibly along his bare arms. His hands were completely covered, forearms, up to the shoulders. It had climbed to his collarbone. Elena gasped and Damon stared dumbfounded, hardly able to comprehend what was happening.

Slowly, the veins crept up past Stefan's chin, to his cheekbones, past his nose. When the veins reached his hairline, Caroline screamed with a cry, grabbing his hand again as useless as the action was. She sniffled and looked back at her best friend.

"He didn't even let me say goodbye." Caroline sobbed.

A long moment passed, Elena hugging Damon, Caroline sobbing into Stefan's rigid shoulder.

"Who didn't let you say goodbye?" A voice sounded. Caroline gasped, as did Damon and Elena. They hovered over Stefan's body, and his eyes popped open quickly. Stefan looked at Caroline. "There's nobody to say goodbye to." He added playfully. She slowly began to smile and then hugged him tightly, crying again with happy tears. Stefan looked up at Damon and the eldest Salvatore grinned at his little brother.

"Good to have you back, brother. For the five minutes you were gone, things were dull." Damon greeted. Stefan breathed a laugh and hugged Caroline back. He nodded to Elena.

"We were worried you were dead, what happened?" Elena asked

"The Devil just…let me go." Stefan said simply.

"Let you go." Damon repeated skeptically. His brother nodded, a look in his eye telling them all he was hiding a lot more. "Well, we'll make up a bedroom for you here until you're alright again."

"I'm alright now." Stefan replied. "I'd rather go back to Caroline's, if that's alright with you guys." Elena and Damon looked at each other uncertainly, then to Caroline. The blonde vampire smiled back at them with such mirth they complied. They knew Caroline would be hovering over Stefan until she was 100% sure he was just fine again.


	3. What Just Happened

I do apologize for this, I just remembered what I was doing with this story.

* * *

They were back at Caroline's place. With no one else there but them, Caroline quickly busied herself with making up the house again after its dishevelment from the baddie they'd encountered. Stefan watched her steadily, enough to unnerve her. Except he was much more attentive to her actions now that he'd been before. Maybe that was a good thing. She finished making the bed in her room, swung her arms around awkwardly and breathed a nervous laugh as she looked at him.

"You tired at all? What something to eat maybe?" She asked.

"I have a different idea, actually." Stefan replied. Before she knew what was happened, he'd enveloped her in a kiss, holding her tightly in his arms and guiding her backward into the bedroom. He threw her back on the bed.

"I just made this" Caroline whined playfully, earning an eye roll and accompanying laugh before he'd climbed on top of her and they kissed more deeply.

The covers were thrown back. Pillows ripped apart, sheets torn.

When they were done, Caroline panted, holding the covers up to her now bare chest with glee, grinning at Stefan. He wasn't panting, but when he looked over at her he grinned as well. Just the way he did when he was with Elena. She laughed and grabbed him for another kiss. Then it started again.

Four hours later, Caroline was asleep. Stefan was still wide awake, still not tired from his exercise. And now, he'd done his duty. Just as quickly as before, his skin turned stone-grey, his body jolting in pain. Caroline didn't stir. The grey veins covered his entire body again, and just as quickly as before they disappeared.

Now there was no longer a vampire named Stefan Salvatore.

Now there was only him.

* * *

Caroline woke up to find a tray of breakfast waiting for her at the foot of the bed. She pulled the sheets around her, smiling at Stefan's gesture, and dug in.

"How is the most beautiful person in the house?" Stefan sang as he flitted in the room

"I don't know, how are you?" Caroline joked. He put a hand to his chest in mock offense

"Well I'm spectacular." He leaned over. "How is the lady of the house?" He murmured. They nearly kiss before he pulled away.

"I'm good." Caroline replied, finishing her breakfast and pretending not to notice the strange action. "So you're just fine now? No...devil, no bad guy's running around in your brain?"

Stefan paced the room and stiffened at the word 'devil', turning away from her with his hands behind his back.

"I must admit, I am still host to this...devil. But not in the manner which you think." Stefan said. Caroline searched for her shirt and quickly yanked it on.

"Why do you sound like that?" She asked nervously. Stefan blinked

"Do I not normally sound this way? Apologies, new host, new language as it were." He replied. She pulled on the rest of her clothes and prepared to run from the room. But with the flick of His hand, there was a transparent orange barrier in the doorway that pushed Caroline back into the room. She glared at him.

"What did you do to Stefan" She hissed

"Now now, no need for harshness." He replied. "In all honesty I don't need this host any longer, but for reasons benefiting my survival I won't clue you in just yet."

It took her a moment to adjust to his words and the way he used them. She breathed calmly to quell anger and sadness bubbling inside her.

"Are you saying, that Stefan isn't going to make it?" Caroline asked. Stefan looked back at her in mock innocence

"'Make it'? Darling he's already gone. On the other side, watching his brother and the former love of his life be happy together without him, waiting for his mother to join him so he'd be free of thinking of his father..." He replied, pacing around the room. Caroline couldn't process his words after 'the other side', and began crying, sitting on the foot of the bed and grabbing at the sheets on either side of her.

"This is my fault, you're my fault, if I hadn't tried to make Stefan let me in his mind, he would've fought long enough for us to finally kill you." Caroline sobbed. "This is all my fault."

Stefan walked over casually and knelt before her, lifting a hand to her face to force her eyes to be level with his.

"The host didn't want to let you in. He didn't need, to say goodbye to you. And even if he did I wouldn't have let him." He sat down fully and jerked at Caroline's head when she began crying again. "You killed the people who were helping me. You stopped them from carrying out the plan. And for that, you are at fault. Everything else is a result of that mistake."

Caroline jerked hard enough away from him to cry in peace. He sighed in irritation and calmly walked from the room, although when Caroline tried to do the same she wasn't able. Stefan was gone, he was dead, and it was her fault. Anyone she'd ever cared about she'd hurt, any boy she'd loved she hurt them enough that they stayed away for good.

Even Klaus.

Caroline cried to what seemed like hours, before she began to accept she was the Devil's hostage, and her boyfriend was his meat suit. Whatever happened between now and when she'd be free, was just something she had to deal with.

He reentered the room when her sobs became less frequent and gave her an annoyed glance when she finally looked at him again.

"Why don't you just tell me how this is gonna go?" Caroline said.

"You will help me carry out my plan to its end, by which time you will have died as well. In the meantime, we'll put up a front and convinced your friends, his loved ones, that I am he."

"What is this, some Jedi mind trick? It's not gonna happened." Caroline snapped.

"Oh contrar. Unless you want to see your friends dying before you in the most gruesome way you can imagine, with no way to save them, you will do as I say." He replied.

"You can do that?" She blurted without thinking

"I can do anything and everything I desire. When my plan has come to its end, I will be able to reshape the face of this planet. And possibly as a reward for your assistance, I will allow your friends to survive."


	4. Three Little Birds at My Window

And that was what she did. The next morning she texted Elena that she and Stefan were coming over to give them some news before a little trip. Caroline was able to insist she sleep in her own room while the Devil took up residence elsewhere. Anywhere else. The bathroom, the pantry, the fireplace, anywhere but beside her.

He had been the one that slept with her that night. He'd done something to her, she was sure of it. Although to what extent she couldn't predict. Playing a game of mind-chess with the Devil was a new thing for her.

But one thing she hoped would work, was a simple little note that he wouldn't notice. Just a word or two, words that he wouldn't think were a cry for help, something he would think was perfectly innocent. But the right words to tell Elena and Damon that she was in trouble. And so was the rest of the world.

* * *

"We need to go, I told Elena noon and it's close to eleven-fifty." Caroline called to him, taking her phone and putting it in her back pocket. She dressed in clothing that didn't allow him to touch her skin, except her hands. She couldn't cover them without him protesting and someone else questioning it. Her hair was back in a ponytail, which part of her wanted to show the sign something was wrong that way. Another part was so she could wear the turtleneck and have it match her earrings.

"And I assume you are punctual every day, to every appointment." He replied, buttoning the last button on one of Stefan's shirts in the doorway to her bedroom. Caroline gulped and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Aren't you? You are the Devil after all. Punctuality isn't a sin as far as I'm aware." She said crossly.

"Don't start that with me, darling." He snapped. Then he gestured for her hand. She reluctantly crossed the room from her bed to the doorway, taking it. He yanked her from the doorway and gripped her hand fiercely. She gasped at the pain then looked in his eyes with rage, to see fire burning through Stefan's eyes.

"I need you to be perfect. Not a one, suspects a whiff of anything sinister at play." While his words washed over her, she felt…cast under a spell. "Be the Caroline Forbes that is in love with Stefan Salvatore, and who believes she will marry this man one day." He continued. Then he led her by the hand to the front door. "Fortunately you wouldn't be able to break character if you desired, I worked on that little detail while you slept. If you surrender to the spell, and let the words come to you, things will become easier." He turned back to her. "Fighting it will only bring you pain. And that pain will also happen to your friends." He said. He smiled at her reaction of horror.

"If you want to call my bluff, all you have to do, is force yourself not to say a full statement that comes to you. Damon, will feel much the same as when a witch is attacking him. And Elena, will feel as if she is dying from drowning." He said. Caroline's eyes filled with tears and she had to shake them away to keep from looking as though she had been crying.

"While you're telling me how it works, would you answer one question for me?" She asked angrily. He still had his hand wrapped around hers, and drew it to his chest half a block from the Salvatore mansion.

"What is it you desire to know?" He asked sweetly, brushing a kiss over her knuckles. She glared at him.

"What do I call you when you're not pretending to be Stefan?"

He considered for a moment.

"I have had many names over the centuries, truth be told. But one that stayed with me was Devil. I quite like the ring of it, and it sends a chill to anyone who utters it, or hears it. Yes, call me Devil outside our little acts."

* * *

Caroline rushed to the door before Devil could catch up with her, but wasn't planning on spilling anything yet. The sound of Elena and Damon kissing was actually easier for her to listen to, than the words Devil had used to talk about Stefan before. So she bided her time before knocking. Devil took her hand in his lovingly as the door opened, and Elena rushed them inside.

"Come on, Jer and Bonnie are making food." Elena said. She looked at Damon who grinned back at her and stole a kiss before Elena went into the kitchen to help. Damon glanced worriedly at 'Stefan' after he'd done so, and Devil pretended he hadn't seen.

 _You want to kiss me._ Devil's smug voice sounded in her mind. Caroline smiled, bit her lip and laid one on him before twirling out of his reach and into the kitchen. Stefan's eyes followed her out, anyone else would say it was the look of love. Clearly they hadn't met the actual Devil.

She utilized her acting skills to play off that nothing was amiss. Caroline trusted Elena and Bonnie, with her life and everything else. But she didn't want them to end up dying for her. She would figure this out by herself if it was the last thing she did.

* * *

"So what's your news, brother?" Damon asked with two plates of food, leading everyone out of the kitchen to the table in the living room. Stefan smiled at everyone coming past him, Caroline didn't hesitate to glare at him then. When she sat next to him, he grabbed her hand and she felt his nails biting into her skin. Were they getting longer?

"We..." Stefan began, smiling at happy Caroline, "are taking a trip." He said. Everyone motioned their approval while eating.

"Where are you going?" Damon asked

"Well, just outside of town first, want to talk to a witch Caroline knows." Stefan replied.

 _You are making sure the barrier over Mystic Falls is staying down._ Devil's voice sounded in her mind as her friends looked at the blonde vampire.

"Wanna make sure the barrier that kept us from entering is staying down." Caroline explained plainly

"What makes you think it isn't?" Bonnie asked, suddenly worried. Caroline blinked.

"Nothing. I just don't want you guys to get hurt, and I don't want us to get separated from you where we can't help." She replied quickly, biting her lip at the speed her reply came. Luckily Bonnie didn't notice it and glanced at Elena.

"Well besides the outside of town, where else are you two planning on going?" Elena asked. Stefan looked at Caroline and brought her hand to his mouth.

"Oh, Paris...Tokyo...Rome..." He said smoothly, his eyes dark on her. Caroline grinned at him and then at the others, grinding her back teeth. How dare he get inside her head like that.

"You're gonna travel that far?" Elena asked

"Well why not? We're safe now, there's no more people trying to hurt any of us. We're taking a break and enjoying every minute of it that we can." Stefan replied. Elena smiled at him, then at Damon, taking his free hand.

"You're planning on leaving soon I guess" Jeremy said in an approving tone.

"As soon as we're done eating here, actually." Stefan replied. Everyone stopped eating.

"So soon?" Damon asked

 _You want to start as soon as possible._

"I want to start as soon as possible." Caroline repeated excitedly. "The sooner we get to the edge of town, the sooner I see Paris." Elena and Bonnie laughed.

With Devil's admission, everyone ate slower. Caroline nearly took an hour to eat the food on her plate until he 'suggested' she pick up the pace. But the food was gone after a while, and she knew with a sinking feeling she wouldn't have any other way to stall. Stefan took her hand with a bottle of wine in the other, then led her out the door of the mansion. Elena and Bonnie traveled with until Caroline saw a bike a block from the house that wasn't there before. Bonnie was right, Devil was omnipotent.

"Be safe, okay? Text and call everytime you stop and start and everything." Elena said, hugging her. Caroline squeezed her back, letting her fear sink into the embrace until she let go. Bonnie hugged her and kissed her cheek. Caroline looked at her in surprise and laughed.

"Everything's going to be okay." Caroline yelled at her friends over the roar of Stefan's bike. Elena and Bonnie gave her confused looks at the statement and she hoped it was enough to sow seeds of some kind of doubt then and there. Caroline saw Jeremy and Damon standing a few yards from the house. Damon reached for Elena's hand and they went inside, Bonnie's face turned to Caroline's half a second before Devil turned them around a corner.

It had been enough.


End file.
